Press Releases

Nova Scotia School Boards Adopt Resolutions Calling for Collaboration

HALIFAX, NS: At the Nova Scotia School Boards Association Annual General Meeting on May 27, 2017, school board members adopted 13 resolutions on a variety of topics. Resolutions adopted by the membership at the AGM come from member school boards, and are often calls to action to support public education and local governance.

Four of the resolutions adopted at the AGM were emergent in nature, in response to announcements and actions that had recently taken place in Nova Scotia by the provincial government.

During the provincial election campaign there were announcements regarding reviews of school boards and/or school administration. Governing school board members and the NSSBA wanted to acknowledge this, and call for a full, open, transparent, and research-based approach. The current seven regional and one provincial school boards have been in place since 1996. "Through this resolution, we are seeking assurance that any review of school boards and/or school administration is conducted by an external, accredited professional with the NSSBA as a full partner throughout all stages of the review," says Hank Middleton, President of the NSSBA.

The NSSBA and governing school boards adopted a resolution to support superintendents and ask for their inclusion in communication and initiatives involving school staff. Governing school boards and the NSSBA communicate and collaborate with the Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development, and the department, and respects these relationships. "In our school systems, superintendents report to and are accountable to governing school boards," said Mr. Middleton. "They work with the department and the Minister, and all other school board staff report to and take direction from the superintendent. Boards are very concerned with recent practices that appear to circumvent the authority of governing school boards and superintendents."

With the establishment of the Council on Classroom Conditions, school board members adopted a resolution calling for the Council to meet with superintendents and senior staff before making announcements. "School board members support teachers having a strong role in educational policy and practices," says Mr. Middleton. "We also feel that superintendents and senior staff have the expertise and experience in system-level change and administration that is needed for these recommendations to be successful. We need to have people working together."

The Council on Classroom Conditions identified school board governance as a future topic, prompting a response from governing school boards. "The NSSBA and school board members appreciate the interest in governance by the Council on Classroom Conditions," said Mr. Middleton. "The NSSBA established a Governance Action Plan Steering Committee, addressing recommendations by the Auditor General, to support school board governance in our province. We ask that any topics related to school board governance be referred to the NSSBA and our committee."

The NSSBA Board of Directors acted upon four of the adopted resolutions immediately following the AGM due to their nature. While all 13 will be shared with the Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development, the Board of Directors felt it was important to share four specific resolutions regarding emergent issues with the Premier and the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development as soon as possible. "We also felt it was important to share the resolutions with the public to share some of the work we are doing to strengthen the education systems at the local level," said Mr. Middleton.

Visit www.nssba.ca to view all of the resolutions passed at the 2017 AGM.

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For further information, please contact:

Trish Smith – Communications Manager

Nova Scotia School Boards Association

Office: 902-491-2856

Cell: 902-497-0951

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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